The Alternative Perspective
by TheNerdshipper
Summary: What if someone else falls for Sheldon? What if Sheldon feels the same? Totally AU and OOC. Almost everyone will be here at some point. Not your usual pairing but keeping things friendly to all.
1. Chapter 1

Like any usual Tuesday night, the four strolled into the Cheesecake Factory having their usual, pleasant but spirited debate, over some comic topic. Their discussion carried on as they were seated in their usual area. What wasn't usual is who came to serve them.

"Hi guys, I'm Bernadette, I will be taking care of you tonight. Is anyone ready to order some drinks before deciding on their meal?"

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Raj whispered something in Howard's ear. Howard gave her both his and Raj's drink order. Leonard quickly added his as well. While still looking at his menu, Sheldon started to rant about how only Penny is allowed to serve them. He continued to rant while putting down his menu. After looking up, he uncharacteristically stopped talking. A visible blush shot up his cheek as he quickly stood up.

"My goodness gracious, where are my manners?! My Meemaw would have my hide. My name is Sheldon Cooper. I… I mean, we… we… are honored to have you care to our table. "

Sheldon introduced everyone at the table, indicated that he would have a lemonade and sat down. He was completely oblivious that four sets of eyes were staring at him. Bernadette blushed deeply while in a slight state of shock. No one has ever introduced themselves like that before and she loved it. Turning away, she ran into Penny.

"Penny… the tall one, he is really cute."

Penny and the rest of the guys were completely dumbfounded.

"What the frak?"

"Gentleman, now that drinks have been ordered, I suggest we take a look at our menus and decide on our meals. Bernadette will be back soon and I do not want to inconvenience her with our dilly dallying."

"Sheldon!" Leonard exclaimed. "Want to catch us up here? When are you ever nice like that?"

Jumping in, Penny added "yeah and whatever happened to Doctor…. Sheldon Cooper. Ph.D. whatever times two?"

Before Sheldon could answer, Bernadette was back with their drinks. The guys gave their orders and she gleefully walked away. Penny pulled her aside for a moment to explain how on Tuesday nights, this was her table. Sheldon has a horrible tendency to be quite condescending and that he does not tolerate changes very well. Especially servers. Bernadette became quite apologetic. She was warned about a group where someone is quite troublesome and that table belonged to Penny. However, when she saw Sheldon, she was immediately smitten. In her eyes, there was no way the Sheldon was anything other than a charming man. More so after that introduction that made her heart have flutters.

Seeing how happy she was, Penny let her have the table and walked away half smiling and half worried. It was so weird to see Sheldon act like a normal person. Yet, on the other side, she was concerned to what will happen when the rose-colored glasses broke.

It was almost instantly when robot Sheldon came back. They had paid for their meals and left the Cheesecake Factory. No sooner had they left the front door; Sheldon was back to his old-self. He was ranting how his dinner was not to his satisfaction. In an unusual manner, Sheldon was angry and upset the rest of the week. Even the playful banter that Sheldon and Penny enjoyed took a dark turn at times. Every little infraction had the potential to blow up.

When Tuesday rolled around, the guys were debating not even going to the Cheesecake Factory as Penny indicated she would spit in Sheldon's food if they showed up. Sheldon had said some things that were low blows and she was not having it. In fact, none of them were going to tolerate it any longer. Between texts messages, the four conspired that they should confront Sheldon together. To keep Sheldon off their scent, they decided that they should still come in for dinner. Penny would behave and not doing anything to his food. Their plan hit something quite unexpected. A little firecracker named Bernadette.

When Penny walked in to the Cheesecake Factory before her shift, she found Bernadette anxiously waiting for her.

"Penny, can we talk for a moment?"

"Sure Bernie, what up?"

"Penny, I can't stop thinking about Sheldon. I know they are supposed to be your table but if they come in tonight, can I have them? I'll tell you what, I will give you the tips they leave behind. What do you say?"

"Bernie…. Sheldon been a ginormous punk all week since they were last here. He'll drop into an argument at the dumbest things. You don't know him outside of work and…"

Bernadette cut her off "I want to know him more. I wanted to ask him out for coffee or something"

Penny sighed "Bernie, I'm not so sure that a great idea. Sheldon… is well Sheldon. He has all these rules that he imposes on everyone. Sure, he can be quite nice at times, but… I don't want to see you get hurt."

Bernadette was crestfallen and started to walk away. Penny felt a little hurt herself. Sheldon wasn't all that bad, but he was a wackadoodle at times. Many times…. In fact, almost all the time. Bernie deserved better. Penny thought about all the bad relationships she had before she met and started dating Leonard. Sure, they had their problems but Leonard was really great compared to all the other boyfriends. She remembered how after a brief introduction that Sheldon acted… well normal around Bernadette.

"Hey Bernie, you know what, you can go ahead and take the table."

Bernadette responding with her own megawatt smile and quickly ran into the back to finish getting ready. Penny shook her head and wondered if she was playing matchmaker here.

Promptly at 6PM, the buys strolled in. Leonard had texted her earlier letting her know that Sheldon was still rather agitated. Hopefully she would still have her job when the night was over.

Penny and Bernadette walked over to the table. Penny apologized that she was needed elsewhere but that Bernadette will be taking care of them again tonight. In a flash, there was a sudden change. Angry Sheldon disappeared. Sheldon stood up and with his Texas accent slipping in, thanked Penny for letting them know of the change. He turned to Bernadette and thanked her for stepping in for Penny. He indicated that he would be having his usual lemonade and sat down. The rest of the meal went rather well. Sheldon was unusually polite and pleasant the entire time. As they were leaving, Bernadette quickly walked up to Sheldon and asked him if wanted to get some coffee tomorrow night sometime.

"I promised my mother that I wouldn't do drugs after moving here so I must politely turn down your offer for coffee."

Looking rather crestfallen, she started to walk away.

"However, I would not be opposed to getting an ice cream cone… that is, of course, that you will find that to be an acceptable alternative."

Bernadette gave a slight squeal and handed Sheldon her phone number.

The following day at work, Sheldon found his time to be wildly productive. It was a stark contrast to how he was last week. Breaking his own rule of no texting while working, he pulled out his cell phone to send a personal text message to Bernadette. He gave the location of an ice cream shop down the street from his apartment where he would like to meet up. She responded back a few minutes later with her acceptance.

After eating dinner, Sheldon grabbed his key, jacket and wallet. As he made his way to the door, he was asked where he was going.

"I am meeting Bernadette for ice cream. I do not wish to be late so if you will excuse me, I have to leave now to accommodate the anticipated sidewalk traffic. "


	2. Chapter 2

Sheldon was pleasantly surprised by how well he enjoyed his time with Bernadette. She was punctual, quick to decide her ice cream choice and took time to wipe their table down with a disinfectant wipe. While he did not share her enthusiasm for studying microbiology, he appreciated that she was working towards a Ph.D. They were able to discuss a few topics rather intellectually.

When they were finished, Bernadette thanked Sheldon for the fun time but she needed to get home to finish some homework.

"Bernadette, I enjoyed our time together and I would not be opposed to spending more time with you."

She blushed at Sheldon and thought it was really cute to how much of a gentleman he was. She wondered if it would be too forward to at least kiss his cheek goodnight. It was then that she noticed a problem. At first the height difference wasn't an issue. Now that she wanted to kiss him, she was too short and Sheldon was too tall. She didn't have an immediate solution and it was becoming aggravating.

Feeling frustrated, her response to spending more time with Sheldon came out the wrong way. Even as socially awkward that he could be, even Sheldon picked up on the dripping tone.

"I'm sorry, I thought you had an enjoyable evening. Good luck with your studies." With that, Sheldon turned and walked away briskly.

Bernadette was stunned for a moment wondering what happened. Everything was going amazing. She then realized that way she responded was not her intention. She was frustrated for a moment and now everything was falling apart. She tried calling after Sheldon but it was too late. He had already disappeared into the crowd.

She sat down on a park bench and shed a tear. She had really liked Sheldon. Even though it was only a simple get together for ice cream, it was better than most of the dates she ever been on. He was smart, charming and had impeccable manners. She could tell that he didn't seem to care for certain sciences such as her microbiology, but he never made fun of her for it like others have. He didn't have to but it was really sweet how he gave her encouragement to continue working towards her degree. She sat there for awhile not knowing what to do.

Sheldon has since stormed home. Feeling frustrated of how everything suddenly came crashing down, he went into a cleaning rampage. It didn't matter that the apartment was already immaculate. Nothing was safe from a 5-to-1 ratio of industrial cleaning solution versus his usual 10-to-1 ratio. Leonard knew something had to have gone wrong and quickly ran to get Penny. She worked with Bernadette and would have a better insight to what was going on.

"Sheldon sweetie, what wrong?"

"Penny! This is all your fault! None of this would have happened if you took care of your table instead of passing it off to Bernadette!"

"Look Sheldon, she initially took the table because she thought you were cute. And you know what, you thought she was cute too. I saw how you instantly changed when you saw her. You started acting, well, well normal."

"Well it doesn't matter anymore!"

"Why not? What happened? Sheldon, you can talk to me."

Sheldon stopped cleaning and slumped over to his spot. He explained how things went initially. Penny actually felt rather proud that Sheldon seemed to have grown a bit and might actually be capable of having a real relationship. He then talked about wanting to spend more time with Bernadette. However, even though she spoke the words that she agreed, her tone suggested otherwise. Sheldon confessed something that surprised both Penny and Leonard.

"Winning a Nobel has always been my focus. It why I dedicated my life to Physics. I was researching past winners and I discovered something that I did not have previous knowledge. Many past winners have been married. I thought that romantic relationships were beneath me and thus, have not bothered with them. In continuance of my research, many felt that being married had provided the way to their scientific discovery. Their wives were essentially the necessary muse they needed. The numbers were convincing enough that I felt that I am doing a disservice to science by not reaching my full potential. By not being married, I am potentially withholding the key to a better and brighter tomorrow."

Penny and Leonard were dumbfounded and speechless. Sheldon was showing a remarkable insight. He continued.

"For the past month, I have been researching relationships. Though some aspects do bother me, I feel that it is necessary for the greater good."

"Sheldon, wait… are you saying that you might actually be willing to get… 'physical' with someone?"

"Yes Penny. Though I wish to do so after being in a committed relationship. My mother would insist that any 'Physical' activities happen after getting married. It doesn't matter anymore. After my evening with Bernadette, I know now that the research was flawed."

"Sweetie, thank you for sharing. I know that this wasn't easy. I don't know what happened with Bernadette, but it has to be some sort of misunderstanding."

"Thank you, Penny. Now if you two will excuse me, I need to finish cleaning." Sheldon returned to his task but the intensity of his aggressive cleaning was reduced quite a bit.

Leonard and Penny went back across the hall to her apartment. Her phone started ringing and she saw it was Bernadette calling.

"Penny, I think I messed up really bad. I was having this amazing time with Sheldon and everything fell apart…" Bernadette explained how she wanted to give Sheldon a quick kiss good night, but was suddenly frustrated by the height difference, She really did want to spend more time with him but before she could explain anything, he was already gone. "I just don't know what to do."

Penny explained how she had just gotten Sheldon side. After hearing Bernadette side, it was indeed a big misunderstanding. She also could understand the height difference. She suggested the Bernadette come over right away and talk to Sheldon. She gave her the address and said that she'll be waiting.

Bernadette was knocking on the Penny's door about 10 minutes later and was let in. It was obvious that she was still a bit upset over the events of the evening. She was really hoping that Penny could somehow fix everything. After calming her down a little more, both ladies walked across the hall to talk to Sheldon. Except Sheldon wasn't home. He had left a few minutes ago to take out the trash. Bernadette did not feel comfortable waiting in Sheldon's apartment and decided to wait in the hall. As she started to turn and leave, everyone heard Sheldon walking back up the stairs.

Sheldon froze when he saw her. He did not understand what Bernadette could possibly want nor did he want to deal with it. Penny saw the expression on his face and knew she had to step in before anything got worse.

"Sheldon, Bernadette told me her side of things. There was indeed a misunderstanding and I think you need to hear her explain things."

"Penny and furthermore Bernadette, there is nothing you can say or do that will tell me otherwise. Now if you will excuse me, I have work to do."

Something snapped in Bernadette. "Hey! Penny has been nothing but kind and understanding. She warned me that you could really be a jerk, but I didn't want to listen!"

Bernadette started walking toward Sheldon in a slow and aggressive manner while continuing her tirade.

"I had a wonderful time tonight and I know you did too!"

As Bernadette continued, Sheldon kept slowly backing away from her.

"I thought it was great how we could talk about a variety of different subjects. Most guys run off!"

Sheldon stumbled two steps down the stairs.

"I had such a great time that I started to have feelings for you. I wanted to kiss you good night but I became frustrated by our height difference and I…."

Bernadette stopped for a moment. With her on the landing and Sheldon two steps down, the height difference was now negligible. Before Sheldon could move any father, Bernadette grabbed him and smashed her lips on his. He was started for a moment but quickly wrapped his arms around and kissed her back.

Leonard wiped a tear away while commenting to Penny how it seemed that Sheldon was finally becoming a real boy. She playfully pushed him into her apartment. "I think those two will need some alone time."


End file.
